The Bow in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The Bow, Calgary, Alberta, Canada is the largest steel framed building currently under construction in the Americas at almost 50 tons. It incorporates several design features that make this project unique.

In addition to a striking, graphical presentation on Calgary's skyline, this diagonal grid (diagrid) system provides superior structural efficiency and significantly reduces the overall steel weight, as well as the number and size of interior columns.

Visually, the diagrid pattern is repeated every six stories, and a single unit of the pattern is referred to as a node. This is the first time a triangular diagrid system has been applied to a curved building design in a North American skyscraper.

At a time when economic conditions were causing financing pressures on all large construction projects, the steel budget for the project had grown from $250,000,000 to $350,000,000. So the developer, Matthews Southwest, and the bank brought in The Steel Construction Group.

The original assignment was to assess the cause of what amounted to budget "creep" of approximately 40% before erection of the tower had even commenced and to help determine the most practical level to "cap" construction and halt the project.

Fortunately for the project and all its players, both the Developer and the Owner really wanted to finish the project rather than be forced to delay or abandon it. At the end of the initial 30-day evaluation, SCG’s assignment was refocused, and they were given the task of reducing steel costs and developing a more manageable steel contract that would allow new financing to be negotiated and allow the project to proceed.

What followed was a 60-day period of intense negotiations, requiring cooperation between the parties at levels unheard of in today's construction market. SCG was asking the Steel Contractor, Supreme Walters Joint Venture, to abandon their "cost-plus" contract, which had been previously executed, then accept a "lump-sum" contract that would carry more risk on their part. And the new "lump-sum" contract needed to be executed at a greatly reduced price, with no reduction in scope.

Working until the last minute allowed by the bank, what resulted was a new "lump-sum" contract at a net savings to the project of approximately $50,000,000. This met the requirements previously established and allowed construction to proceed. One of the conditions established in the amended contract by BOTH the Steel Contractor and the bank required The Steel Construction Group to remain a party to the project for the duration of steel construction and contract close-out.

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Click here to download a pdf file about projects The Bow, The Big House, UCMC.

Principals in The Steel Construction Group, llc. have spent their entire careers in steel construction and, by doing so, have acquired "hands on" experience that can only be gained by working in the steel industry. They are widely known as dependable steel contruction project consultants.